Casting Ductile Iron
Adan
Experience Information
Employer: Metal Technologies
Job Title: Engineer
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Metal Technologies is a company that owns and operates 7 foundries in the United States. They manufacture ductile iron, grey iron, and aluminum castings.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
When I arrived, my first task was to spend a few weeks shadowing each department. My next assignment was to attempt to create CAD for an existing mold pattern. This helped me increase my level of skill in the software, CREO PARAMETRIC. After I was comfortable enough, I was given projects that usually had me working on changing existing designs. This ultimately lead to me being given the task to completely redesign a mold pattern for production.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
One of the most valuable skills I picked up was learning how to use the CREO PARAMETRIC CAD software. Anyone who has used this software before knows that it is not as clean-cut as Solidworks. However, it is a more powerful software than Solidworks and is used by many companies, so it is worth learning. I also gained some insight on the science of metal casting. There is much more to casting than I had originally anticipated and it is very interesting.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this experience was working my way up from a basic modeling practice to actually designing a molding pattern. I did not expect to get this far on my first rotation. It is a great feeling and a confidence booster knowing that I made an impact in some way.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience was a reassurance of my decision to become an engineer. An academic setting can be very different from industry, and in some ways it was. But in a good way. I learned that I fit in to this industry setting well and I will work harder now to ensure that I can continue to work as an engineer by graduating with good credentials.